Unitus Starter Visa

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The Unitus Starter Visa is a credit card especially designed for people with no credit history. Sometimes people with no credit history are treated like people with bad credit. Unitus recognizes that the two are not the same and offers this card to help its members establish credit.

Like all Unitus credit cards, you must first become a member of Unitus Community Credit Union to apply for this card. Unitus members either live or work in any of the seven counties surrounding Portland, Oregon, or have family members who do.

Unitus Starter Visa Builds a Credit History

The Unitus Starter Visa is actually the Unitus Classic Visa, but the approval process is just a bit different. Before being approved for this card, you must first become a member of Unitus.

Then you must complete two programs offered by Unitus.

The first program is “Money Management” and the second is “Credit Matters.” The material is online. When you complete the reading, you’ll just have to take a short quiz at the end. These programs are designed to educate you on the responsible way to handle both money and credit.

Unitus also highly recommends attending one of the “Understanding Your Credit” seminars offered by the credit union. These can be in a group setting or one-on-one session. Service like this is one reason credit union membership is growing. For more reasons that credit unions might be better than banks, visit the funny-named, budget website WiseBread.

Unitus Starter Visa Terms

Since the Unitus Starter Visa is the same as the Classic Visa, the terms are the same. The interest rate starts as low as 9.99% and goes as high as 17.49%. Normally, this rate depends on creditworthiness. For the starter card, the credit union will mainly take into account your income and other debts since you don’t have a credit score to consult.

The Unitus Starter Visa has no annual fee and very few other fees. Since it is a Visa card, it is also part of the Verified by Visa, Visa Fraud Protection, and Zero Liability programs. You can even get free auto rental insurance just by paying for the rental with your card. You’ll also have overdraft protection for your Unitus checking account.

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